Interchangeable shoulder pad



Oct. 6, 1953 R. E. RILEY INTERCHANGEABLE SHOULDER PAD Filed Jan, 9, 1951 A INVENTOH BY i vb hf z Patented Oct. 6, 17953 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE INTERCHANGEABLE SHOULDER PAD Ruth E. Riley, Los Angeles, Calif. Y Application January 9, 1951, Serial No. 205,103

4 Claims. (Cl. 2 268) This invention relates to shoulder pads made of cushioning material of the general type shown in my Reissue Patent No. 23,167 dated November 15, 1949, and it is directed more particularly to shoulder pads having means for detachably fastening such shoulder pads to garments,

A11 important object of my invention is to provide a shoulder pad of the above character in which the fastening means are so constructed and arranged as to facilitate the attachment of the shoulder pad to a garment so that the pad may be interchangeably worn with different garments.

Another object of my invention is to provide a shoulder pad of the above character in which the fastening means comprises a fastening element or elements, such as a pin fastener, requiring no special cooperating structure on the garment to effect its attachment and detachment, and including means for drawing the garment into snug engagement with the pad after the attachment of the fastening element to the garment.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shoulder pad including fastening means for detachably securing the pad to a garment;

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the shoulder pad of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal cross-section view through the pad taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2 showing the fastener attached to a garment;

Figure 4 is a transverse cross-sectional view through the pad taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of shoulder pad.

The shoulder pad designated l in the drawing may be made of some soft resilient material, such as sponge rubber, It is arcuately curved upon its upper and lower surfaces in transverse direction in the form of a crescent to seat upon the shoulder of the wearer and is tapered in a longitudinal direction so as to compensate for the slope of the shoulder. Such general type of shoulder pads is not new, especially for womens wear, and hence requires no detailed discussion.

While various attaching means have been proposed for attaching the pads to a garment in order that the shoulder pads may be conveniently changed from one suit to another, none so far as I am aware is entirely satisfactory either from the standpoint of convenience in making the change or for maintaining a reliable connection between the pad and the garment while the garment is being worn. Furthermore, in the rusual case where detachable head-and-socket fasteners are provided between the garment and the pad. the complementary portion of the fastener permanently attached to the garment interferes with the convenient laundering of the garment and often becomes so damaged as to render the fastening useless. i

The pad l according to my invention is provided with garment-engageable fasteners, herein designated as two safety pins 2, resting entirely within depressions or pockets 3 disposed in spaced-apart parallel relation adjacent the ridge of the pad and located generally centrally of the pad. Extending between the bottom of each depression and the lower, or concave, surface of the pad is a pair of parallel slits 4 and the lower surface of the pad is preferably recessed to provide shallow channels 5 extending between the two pairs of slits and also outwardly from the slits, as best illustrated in Figure 2. The ends of the channels remote from the slits gradually taper toward the under surface of the pad, as indicated in Figure 3. y y

Passing through the slits 4 is a flexible element, such as a textile ribbon 6, with the free ends of the ribbon lying against the concavely curved lower surface of the pad and 'with the intermediate portion of the ribbon extending up through one slit and down through the other of each pair of companion slits as indicated in Figure 4. The ribbon passes through the opening between the spaced bars of the safety pin fasteners 2 normally lying within the depressions 3 so that the ribbon is adapted to retain the fasteners in association with the shoulder pad but allows the fasteners to be withdrawn from their'depressions when desired for attachment .to

.a garment G by merely pulling the ribbon through the slits as indicated by the fastener on the left-hand side of Figure 1. n

The free ends of the ribbon 6, or the lower surface of the pad, or both, may be coated with a dry-sealing, pressure-sensi-tive cement such as dispersed rubber solution, natural or compound latex or resins, as indicated at 1, so that the ends of the ribbon may be adheredto the under surface of the pad and held against accidental Withdrawal through the slits; and also contributing to this end is the resilient pressure excrt-,ed on the ribbon by the opposed walls of each sli The mode of use of my shoulder pad is as follows: When the pad is to be attached to a gar- 3 ment G the fasteners 2 are withdrawn from their depressions pulling the ribbon 6 partly but not entirely through the slits 4. This allows the fasteners to be readily attached to the inside shoulder portion of a garment G, for example, the lining of a womans coat or the shoulder seams of any garment or the shoulder straps of lingerie. Then the free ends of the ribbon are pulled taut to move the fasteners back into their depressions and to draw the garment snugly into engagement with the shoulder pad. The ends of the ribbon extending beyond the channels 5 are spread fiat and pressed against the lower surface of the pad so as to cause the ends to more permanently adhere to the pad.

When the pad is to be switched to another garment the ends of the ribbon-are straightened out to free them from adhesive contact with the pad and then the fasteners are withdrawn from their depressions by pulling the ribbon through the slits. This allows the fasteners to be readily detached from the garment G. The pad is then associated with another garment in the same manner described above.

Instead of safety pins other suitable types of fasteners may be employed for maintaining the ribbon in association with the garment, and under some circmstances this fastener may take the form of a loop secured to the inside of the shoulder of the garment through which the ribbon may be passed. However, I prefer to employ detachable pin fasteners as affording the most convenient means for securing the shoulder pads in place.

Instead of two fasteners 2 as shown in the drawings, secured by a single ribbon, any suitable number of these fasteners may be employed with each shoulder pad and each fastener independently secured by separate ribbons. Or only one fastener may, under certain circumstances, be used. Also the positions of the fasteners on the shoulder pad may be suitably chosen, although under most conditions it will be found advisable to locate the fasteners along or adjacent to the ridge of the shoulder pad.

The free ends of the ribbon I may be held in various ways as alternative to the use of the pressure-sensitive cement coating to temporarily anchor the ends of the ribbon in place; and under some conditions such anchoring means may be dispensed with altogether since the resilient pressure of the side walls of the slits 4 against the ribbon is ordinarily sumcient to prevent accidental withdrawal of the ribbon from the slits. If desired, the free ends of the ribbon may be tied in a knot; or they may be permanently stitched together, allowing sufiicient slack to permit the fasteners to be withdrawn from their recesses when necessary.

In Figure 5 is shown a modified form of the GG shoulder pad. In this embodiment of the invention the pad l a, corresponding in all substantial respects to the shoulder pad i of Figures 1 through 4, is provided with depressions 3a located in spaced relation lengthwise along the ridge. A ribbon 6a passing between the bars of a pair of safety-pin fasteners 2a and also through slits extending from the bottoms of the depressions 3a. to the lower surface of the pad, retains the garment-engageable fasteners within their respective depressions after the shoulder pad has been attached to a garment. The free ends of the ribbon 6a emerging from the slits on the lower surface of the pad may be held in association with each other and with the pad by a small adjustable buckle 8 of the general type that is commonly provided on lingerie shoulder straps. The buckle serves to tighten or loosen the ribbon to hold the fasteners in their depressions or to allow the removal of the fasteners therefrom.

While a preferred specific embodiment of the shoulder pad has been set forth. it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact construction illustrated and described but that modifications of these details may be made within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

l. The combination with a shoulder pad comprising a pre-formed body member of generally crescent shape in transverse cross-section and of generally wedge shape in longitudinal crosssec tion, of a plurality of depressions in the upper convexly-curved surface of said body member located in spaced-apart relation, a pair oi closelyspaced slits extending from the bottom of each depression through the concavely-curved lower surface of the body member, a flexible element passing through the slits and resiliently gripped between the side walls of the slits, said flexible element overlying the bottoms of the recesses between the slits of each pair of slits and having its ends extended beyond the lower concave surface of the body member, `and a plurality of fasteners supported upon the flexible element and arranged to be drawn into and seat within said recesses by pulling the ends of the flexible element.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 including means for securing the ends of the flexible element to the pad.

3. The combination as set forth in claim l including a dry-sealing, pressure-sensitive cement upon the ends of the iiexible element for adhesively securing the flexible element to the pad.

4. The combination as set forth in claim 1 wherein the fasteners are safety pins.

RUTH E. RILEY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,416,415 Stehlik Feb. 25, 1947 2,448,141 Farrell Aug. 3l, 1948 2,483,809 Clark et al d Oct. 4, 1949 

